The Wounded
by jtav
Summary: Mild AU. A crash in the Si Wong Desert reunites Korra and Asami much sooner than planned. Sometimes healing others is the best way to heal yourself. Korrasami.
1. Chapter 1

Raava shone like a second sun as Korra inched her way up the dunes. Finally, it was over. She would be whole. The phantom, chained version of herself that messed everything up would go away. She could go home. Be the Avatar again. See Asami again. Just a few more meters. Korra wiped the sweat from her brow and willed herself forward. Almost there.

The mirage vanished from one moment to the next. Korra screamed in frustration. "Am I supposed to be the Avatar or not? I can't be the Avatar if I can't go into the Avatar state!" She rested her forehead on her arm and swallowed tears. She'd gone to every spiritual place she knew and Raava remained always a fingertip out of reach. Maybe it would have been better to go back to Republic city. If she couldn't be the Avatar, she could at least be Korra. Bolin was with Kuvira, and Tenzin was off with the rest of the Air Nation doing what she was too weak to do. But Mako and Asami would still be there. It was so tempting sometimes. If she closed her eyes, she could feel long, cool fingers stroking her hands._ I'll be here if you want to talk or anything._ Korra had been too dead inside to respond. But now…

Except it wouldn't be just Mako or Asami. Raiko would bound down the docks to meet her. The press would be at her heels. She could hear the questions. Where have you been? Aren't you ashamed for disappearing for three years? What are you going to do about the chaos in the Earth Kingdom? Do you feel capable of resuming your duties? The answer to the last question was a resounding no.

And really she had been enough of a burden. Asami had bathed her. She remembered lying in bed too weak to move as Asami applied the damp cloth, as she gently caressed Korra's thighs. And whatever small spark of Korra that hadn't been smothered by the gray emptiness screamed in protest. The spark remembered the way Asami had laughed when Korra pulled off a particularly flashy bit of bending. The way her eyes crinkled. The way Asami had flipped her hair ever so casually after taking off her helmet. And all Korra had done in the end was take and take and take. No, she wouldn't see Asami—anyone she loved—again until she could offer them something in return. "But I don't know where else to look."

An engine roared by way of answer and Korra looked up in shock. A black hunk of metal that looked vaguely like someone had strapped a propeller to the top of a Cabbage Car stuttered above her. Black smoke poured from the…tail? The pilot tried to right it, and for a moment it seemed the strange vessel would be all right. But then it began to wobble again. Wobbling became lurching and lurching became falling. The crash made no sound, but Korra thought she could feel sand vibrate under her feet.

Her legs screamed in protest as she made her way to where it seemed like the vehicle had gone down, but there was really no other choice. The Misty Palms Oasis was over a kilometer away. Rumors of angry spirits or the sand shark kept the locals away unless absolutely necessary. Earth kingdom forces had pulled back from Fort Bosco and Kuvira's forces seemed in no hurry to spend resources pacifying the vast expanse. Korra placed a hand on the water flask at her hip. She was a lousy Avatar, but she was still a healer.

The first thing Korra noticed when she arrived at the crash site was that the vehicle was wrecked. The cockpit had landed on its side, already half-buried by the sand. The propeller had broken off and landed some meters away, the tips twisted in a manner that would've been comical under ordinary circumstances. The second thing Korra noticed was that she wasn't alone. Three people, two men and a woman, had beaten her to the wreck. A battered sand skiffer that somehow managed to look even worse than the one Asami had built sat the meters away. The strangers' clothing was dirty and torn, and they'd twisted bits of metal into a cruel-looking necklaces. Bandits or scavengers. Exactly what she didn't need right now.

"What is that?" said the taller of the two men.

"Who cares?" replied the woman, her eyes glittering with ill-disguised greed. "Look at all this iron. We'll make a fortune. Might even be able to salvage some of the gas."

Korra cleared her throat and did her best to look intimidating. "I need you all to stand back. The pilot needs help. Now."

"No way. I don't know what this thing is, but nobody walks away from a crash like that."

"Let me check. You can knock yourself out with the salvaging or looting or whatever in a minute."

The woman grimaced at her, revealing a gold tooth. "You're just trying to take the iron for yourself. Well, we found it first!"

"Stand. Aside."

"Get her!" That was the only warning Korra had before three sets of discs flew at her. Earthbending scavengers. Great. Korra dodged the first two, but the third grazed her cheek. Korra staggered backwards but kept her balance. There was no proper earth for miles, and she had never learned sandbending. She'd need a little bit of water she had for the pilot, if the pilot was even alive. Airbending was...she might as well have held up a sign that said "I'm the Avatar!"

But she'd always been good at fire.

She sent a jet of flame at the woman's head. The woman dived at the last moment, but Korra could almost smell her singed clothing. Smooth graceful movements, just like the masters had taught her. Metal groaned somewhere behind her. She had to get rid of these guys soon. It felt almost like she was getting back in her rhythm, but that wouldn't matter if the pilot died on her. She summoned another whip, willing it in a wide arc that could take out all three at once. If she could just time it right.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said the woman with a dry, hacking laugh. "I knew my time in Zaofu would be good for something. Metal groaned again, and Korra watched in horror as the propeller rose into the air. She'd picked up the basics quickly enough from Su, but that was before the poison. And she'd never tried lifting anything that heavy. And that wasn't even counting that it would completely blow her cover. So that was why spirits had led her out here. She had to pull a rabbit monkey out of her hat or be squashed like a bug. And then the cycle would continue and the world would get a better Avatar. Korra closed her eyes. At least she had been trying to save someone.

But then she heard the propeller crash to the earth and the metalbender screamed. Korra's eyes snapped open. The metalbender had flown backwards, and electricity danced on her skin. The other two were staring at the cockpit in shock. Korra turned to follow their gaze. The cockpit had been forced open, and the pilot had climbed out of her seat. Rivulets of blood ran down her face. Her pilot's jacket was burned and torn, and the slits of her eyes were glazed. She would have given young Korra nightmares. But adult Korra suddenly found it very hard to breathe for reasons that had nothing to do with her brush with death. She knew the curve of those shoulders and the sweep of that neck. And she knew that glove.

Asami.

"Why don't you and your friends take off?" Asami's voice was slurred with pain and who knew what else, but the edge of steel was still there if you knew how to listen. "Before I elec—electrocute you."

"You don't have the strength to get out of there,"

"It takes less strength to fire."

The scavengers looked at each other and their fallen comrade. Seconds passed. Fire danced on Korra's fingers._ Leave. Leave. Leave._ She had to check on Asami, had to get her out of here somehow.

"Um, why don't we just let you have this one?" The shorter of the two's voice broke.

Korra looked at the skiffer. "That too. I'll need it to get her out of here." The fire spiked higher.

"Are you cra—"

"Oh, let them have it. We can always steal another one." The two scavengers picked up their unconscious friend and vanished into the desert.

And so Korra was left alone with Asami for the first time in almost three years. The fire went out, and waves of adrenaline crashed over her. She was shaking as she approached Asami. Asami here. Covered in blood. She turned glazed eyes toward Korra. Even as her lips formed a bloody O, her eyes didn't quite focus. "Korra? How?"

"Shh. Don't try to talk." She pulled Asami from the cockpit and placed her on the skiffer. It was an awkward lift because Asami was so much taller, but she was light and lithe enough for even a shaking, exhausted Korra to manage it. Stickiness rubbed against Korras shirt. Blood. Her mind was empty and cold like the tundra. Emotions fell away and she could only think of making sure Asami's head was properly positioned, checking for shock, and all the other things Katara had taught her a long time ago.

She passed the water over Asami. Her face looked worse than it was—a few shallow cuts on her scalp and another deeper gash on her cheek that would probably leave a scar but was unlikely to cause permanent damage. Her left leg was broken in two places and her shoulder had been dislocated. She didn't sense any debris in her skin, but searching for that was difficult and painstaking work. She needed the calm and quiet of the oasis or better yet, a properly trained healer.

What she did sense was the pain. Knots of it, curdling around Asami like spirit vines. Her leg, her head, her shoulder. Asami didn't speak, but her breath came in short, quick gasps. Still conscious. "Always the strong one," she murmured. Her heart twisted a little. What she wouldn't have given for some chu leaves or mistberry juice. Something for the pain. Another thing she needed and didn't have.

Asami's lips twitched. Her laughter came out as more of a cough. Korra patted her hand. "We'll get going soon. Get you all patched up."

She felt Asami wavering beside her. She felt herself wavering. Eventually inner strength or whatever was keeping both of them conscious was going to give out. "Just like old times, huh? This one might even stay in one piece." She spoke to fill the silence, to keep them both grounded in the here and now. To keep herself distracted from the fact that Asami was here and this wasn't how their reunion was supposed to go at all. She kept the tone light: reminiscing over pro-bending blunders or babbling about how Desna had been way more scary than Eska when they were kids. Asami didn't speak, but inhaled sharply at some of the punch lines. Korra hoped she was doing the right thing.

They stopped just in sight of the oasis. Korra gave Asami's good shoulder what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze. "I'll be back soon."

She dismounted, and the feel of sand against her boots made her feel normal again. Exhaustion and terror fought over her body the way Naga and Pabu fought over her last bit of table scraps. Asami wasn't dying, but she was definitely messed up. She could go into shock, or Korra might have missed a concussion. She took a deep, steadying breath as she trudged into town.

Most of the shops were closed for the midday break, but a few dozen people were milling about on the street regardless. A few of them stared at her, and Korra decided that she must've looked like she wondered through the void. Attention was a good start. "My friend crashed in the desert." She pointed to a pair of muscular twins. "You two, help me get her inside. You—" she threw an arm around a merchant idling near his stall—go to the inn and tell them Ria in 302 is going to need to swap to a room on the ground floor. And you! You find me a waterbender and tell them to meet me at the inn."

Her impromptu deputies stared at her for only a moment before scurrying off. Korra silently thanked her father for teaching her how to get people to listen in an emergency.

It was only when she saw the twins carrying a bloody Asami that her body felt free to finally pass out.

Her dreams were memories.

_The tornado spiraled higher and higher as Mako screamed that this wasn't what they rehearsed. The crowd gasped, but it was a delicate, knowing laugh from behind her that made Korra feel bubbly. She half turned so she could see Asami properly. Her hand covered her mouth, but her eyes were bright with expectations and delight. She wanted to see what airbending could really do. Well, far be it from Korra to disappoint her._

_Zaofu's gardens were beautiful. Korra knew that. But to Asami they were an engineering marvel. Korra didn't really understand all the talk about irrigation techniques and urban planning, but she leaned forward anyway. Asami's voice enthralled her. That enthusiasm for taking things apart and figuring out how to make them more beautiful and useful than ever. By the time she was done, Korra was all for rebuilding Republic City brick by brick._

_Their hands brushed at dinner while the reaching for dropped silverware. Asami's were all contrasts. Long, tapering well-manicured fingers just like you would expect from an heiress. But a little rough in places. Almost calluses from working on engines ever since she could hold a wrench. Korra stroked them absently. She wanted to explore, figure out where one Asami ended and another began. It was only when Su cleared her throat a bit too loudly that Korra remembered the rest of the room and pulled back. Embarrassment washed over her. Asami, however, didn't seem embarrassed at all. She was beaming._

_The touches became more frequent after that. Hugs that lasted a moment longer than they should. A hand on her back when navigating the impromptu obstacle course Wei had created. Korra distracting Asami from her book by tracing absent patterns on the back of her hand. Neither of them ever called it flirting. The warmth and giddiness spoke for themselves._

_Asami looked gorgeous in the desert. Hair blowing in the wind. Face aglow with sunlight and the thrill of saving the day. Korra licked her lips. She wanted to kiss Asami. It felt strange and not strange all at once to admit that. She glared at the Earth Kingdom guards, wishing for the sandshark to reappear and follow them up. Asami leaned into her. Korra couldn't remember why they hadn't done this already. It'd be nice to cuddle and kiss someone, after Mako. Mako. Mako who could barely speak two words to either of them. Who had fought with her about stupid stuff once they had actually gotten together. How short-tempered she had become one she had gotten what she thought she wanted. Flirting was one thing, but what if she screwed it up again? Korra pulled back. Asami blinked in confusion. And then they saw the dragon, and there was no more time for thoughts of kisses._

_Asami knelt in front of her. Her expression was tender. Broken. Ardent. Even now, if Korra could only muster the energy she could have all the kisses and caresses she dreamed of. Asami would tolerate her fitful, clumsy exploration. But Korra felt only a cold, smothering grayness pressing down on her. It was another girl who could give Asami all that, and Zaheer had killed her. Asami's face changed. The phantom Korra stared back at her. The glowing eyes filled her vision. "Give her up," Zaheer said with a snarl he'd never had in the real world. "You've had your chance. With her. As the Avatar. Your time is over._"

Korra's eyes snapped open, and there were cool beads of sweat on her temple. Her limbs felt heavy, and it took more effort than usual to pull herself into a sitting position. "One and two. One and two…" she chanted as Katara had taught her. Gradually, her heart resumed its normal rhythm and her shoulders loosened. Grey light peeked through the windows. Did it make her stronger that she could almost sleep through the night half the time or weak that she had the nightmares at all?

She drew back the covers and slid out of bed. The floor was rough and uncomfortable. Korra liked it that way because it reminded her that this was the real world and the dreams were only dreams.

And then she remembered that the real world was infinitely more complicated than it had been yesterday. Asami was two flights below. It was the sort of thing Varrick would have loved to put in one of his movers. The absent Avatar's best friend almostgirlfriend crashed in the desert. The Avatar battled scoundrels intent on doing said girlfriend harm. Throw in a trek across the desert for flavor. Varrick would add spies or angry spirits for flavor. And of course a kiss in the final reel.

Varrick had lousy dramatic instincts.

But Asami was down there. In pain, Alone, thousands of kilometers from home, doing who knew what. And wouldn't it be nice to see her, just for a moment? She could be back on the hunt for Raava in less than an hour. Asami was probably passed out anyway. She wouldn't even know had been there. She'd pass it off as a hallucination. They'd laugh about this someday. Korra sighed. And she was an idiot who just wanted to see Asami again. A selfish idiot. She ought to be on her way out the door right now, getting on with the business of becoming the Avatar again. So of course she found herself in the first floor hallway, searching for clues to which might be Asami's room.

The door to the third room on the left was slightly ajar. 107. Right across the courtyard from 102. Korra's palms grew cool. Surely Asami wouldn't be in the same room as three years ago? A gruff, unfamiliar voice came through the door. "Really, Miss Sato, I can't help you if you don't cooperate."

Korra stilled. Well, then.

"I think you're doing it wrong." Asami hissed. "Korra never—"

"I assure you, I was trained by the very best healers in Republic City. Now hold still!"

Asami whimpered again. She was right; bone setting shouldn't be causing her this much pain. Korra threw open the door. A waterbender stood over the narrow bed. His clothes were insanely neat for a guy who made his living splashing water around, but that was the only thing neat about him, He flailed too much when he passed the water over Asami's body. And the water was sloshing around too much. And…and… "What do you think you're doing?"

The water fell with a _splash_ as the waterbender stood and rounded on Korra. His eyes bulged and a little muscle twitched in his cheek. It would've been hilarious if he hadn't, you know, been mangling Asami. "Excuse me?"

"You're hurting her. And your technique's all sloppy."

"Sit down, Miss—"

"Ria." She's saw Asami's eyes widen at the alias for the briefest of moments before pain and politeness forced her into a neutral expression.

"Ria. I was trained by the Republic City Waterbending Academy. This may look painful and strange to an untrained eye, but it's quite necessary."

The Republic City Waterbending Academy? Her gaze narrowed to the space between his brows. Perfect place to throw a rock. "The correspondence school? You got your training as a healer from a correspondence school?" Korra heard her voice rising and didn't care.

The mask of smooth condescension faltered. "Well, that is, you can hardly expect one of Master Katara's students to work all the way out here."

Korra strode the length of the room to stand in front of him. He was almost as tall as Asami, but right now he was quivering under her gaze. She inhaled sharply, willing her voice to return to normal. "I expect you not to hurt Asami."

His gaze flickered at the use of Asami's first name. Crap. She'd been so careful to be the person no one would notice while she searched for a way to reconnect with Raava. But they would definitely notice if a supposed nobody called the richest woman in the world by her first name.

"Ria, it's all right." Asami's voice was weak, but with the same syrupy inoffensive sweetness Asami used to convince them she was just a weak little heiress—right before she knocked them unconscious. "Forgive my friend, sir. She's been looking out for me ever since we were children. And the crash made me sore. Maybe what I need right now is a good rest and time to heal. I'll be sure to tell the board everything you did for me. They'll be very grateful." She caught his hand with her good one. "Very, very grateful. I wouldn't be conscious without you,"

"Ah, yes, the body is its own best healer. How grateful do you think Future Industries might be?"

"Three thousand yuans. "

"I—of course, Miss Sato. You will call if your condition worsens?" He bowed and was gone.

Now that she didn't have adrenaline carrying her forward, Korra stood rooted to the spot and stared. Asami's skin was mottled with bruises. The slash on her cheek looked even angrier in the light of the hotel room. And even without the injuries, Asami seemed different. Leaner, harder, as if a sculptor had chiseled away the last bit of excess. Her cheeks seemed more angular. Even less the princess. A true tycoon, powerful and brilliant in her own right. She'd been stripped to her underclothes. Korra had never seen her naked, but even her abdomen and thighs seemed more toned than they could have three years earlier. Korra averted her eyes. Asami had changed too, and she didn't know what to do with this half-stranger.

"Korra," Asami murmured, causing Korra to look up. The bits of her eyes that weren't swollen shut were dark and a half-smile played on her lips. Korra's Asami. "I really like your hair."

The floodgates opened. Tears poured down Korra's face. She cried for Asami being hurt, for having to leave, for still being too broken to come back. But she cried from happiness too. Asami pushed herself up and threw her arm around Korra. She buried her face in the other girl's neck. Her tears slid down Korra's skin, and Korra buried her face in her hair, as if the scent of rosewater had the power to make her whole.

Asami pulled back with a hiss. "Shoulder."

Korra eased her back on the bed with as much grace as she could muster. "Sorry. I was just so happy to—sorry. Want me to see what I can do? Seeing as I am one of Master Katara's students."

Asami laughed and nodded, and Korra ducked into the bathroom to fill a pot of water. She felt calmer now. She'd been more useful—more the Avatar—over the past day then in the last three years. And using her healing skills felt a lot better than watching a petty thief run away or listening to Tenzin as he assured her that he and the rest of the Air Nation had everything well in hand. She carried the water back into the bedroom and went to work. The water glided over Asami's skin as Korra conducted it with graceful, smooth motions. Asami sighed, pleased, as bruises faded to nothing and the swelling went down. Really? Correspondence courses?

Bones knitted under her touch. Before long, Asami was rolling her arm experimentally. Her grin was infectious, and Korra found herself smiling as she put the last of the water back. "Careful with that. You'll still be weak for a while. I wouldn't do any heavy lifting. "

"I'm glad you're here."

"I bet you are. You'd have been stuck here for weeks Miss-I-have-to-fly-things-no-one-has-ever-seen-before."

Asami's smile faded. She looked so serious that Korra felt a chill settle over her. Asami stroked—caressed—her cheek. Her fingers were still the mix of softness and roughness that had so fascinated Korra._ It's the same. She's the same._ "No, because I'm glad you're here."

Korra swallowed. Her skin felt two sizes too tight, "But I'm not any better than when I wrote you."

Asami's fingers ghosted from her cheek to her arm before trailing down to find Korra's hands. "Better or not, I'm still glad you're here." Her voice dropped to a whisper, and there was a tremor Korra had only heard when Asami spoke of her father. "I missed you, Korra."

She squeezed. Korra looked down at their hands. This time she wasn't dead inside. This time she could squeeze back. Maybe she was getting better. Neither of them were in any hurry to break apart.

For the first time, Korra thought her exile might someday come to an end.


	2. Chapter 2

_This is more hopeful than it has a right to be, but I felt guilty for leaving the story where I did. Even Avatars deserve some happiness._

* * *

><p>Three days later, Korra opened the door to find Asami carrying a breakfast tray. Other than the thin, raised scar curving along her cheek, there was no sign that she had been in a crash. She'd even managed to find a fair approximation of her jacket and trousers. Korra would have thought it was a perfectly ordinary morning—if Asami hadn't been chewing on her bottom lip. "I brought breakfast." Her smile was tight. Definitely something going on.<p>

Korra stepped back to let her inside. "You do know that it's usually the person who's been hurt that gets food brought to them, right?"

Asami shrugged and set the food on the table. "I don't feel like eating in the dining room. The whole inn knows I'm here. And I thought we could talk in private before—well in private."

"Before what?"

"I was hoping to work up to that," Asami murmured before taking a deep breath. "Future Industries has finally worked out something with the Provisional Authority forces at Fort Bosco. There will be an airship here in a couple of days to take me home."

"Oh." Korra tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. Of course Asami had to go home sometime. But Korra had gotten used to seeing her again, to checking on her every morning and evening to make sure something hadn't gone horribly wrong with the healing and to Asami's hand on her knee as they people watched at the bar. "Well, I know you've got a lot to do in Republic City. And I should probably get moving too."

Another chew of the lip. "I was thinking maybe you could come back to the city with me." Asami's voice was so small and hesitant that Korra couldn't even muster indignation at the impossibility of it all.

Instead she pushed her sea prunes from one side of the plate to the other with her chopsticks. "And then Raiko and everyone else asks me to solve their problems before they figure out that I can't."

"Tenzin and I can run interference with Raiko and the press. Most of them are up to their eyeballs in debt to Future Industries in one way or another. You don't have to do anything you don't want to." Her hand found Korra's free arm. "I just thought it might help if you were among friends."

She thought of watching Mako serving as bodyguard to the prince he thought was an idiot. Tenzin training airbenders who were too young to come forward three years earlier. It was all still too much. "You don't need dead weight like me hanging around. I'd just be a distraction."

"Korra." Asami's voice was so hard and serious that Korra couldn't help but jerk her head to meet her gaze. There was warmth and sympathy in those green eyes, but there was anger and grief too. "You're not dead weight. Not being able to go into the Avatar State doesn't make you worthless. You got me out of the desert and you healed me. You are amazing. Not the Avatar. You."

Korra swallowed. She knew she ought to say something—thanks, protest, _something_—but her voice seemed to have decamped back to the South Pole. The blazing intensity felt weird, like a field that had been shrouded in fog was suddenly exposed to the sun.

But Asami shrank back in her chair. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't pressure you like this. You know what you need to do to heal, and that's all that matters. I'm just being selfish."

That was enough to return Korra's power of speech. "You think I'm amazing? After everything?" On the other hand, maybe it would've been better if she'd kept her mouth shut.

Asami blushed. "I don't want to go another two-and-a-half years without seeing you," she whispered.

Korra set her food aside and shifted so she could rest her hands on top of Asami's. The warmth of them sank into Korra's skin. It was more seductive than any kiss or caress could be. As long as she was alone, Korra had been content. Reconnecting with Raava had been all that mattered. Now the prospect made her feel cold. Asami was right. Korra had healed her. That was a lot better than being so incompetent that she couldn't stop a petty thief. Her memory flashed back to Asami standing in the desert, a hairsbreadth away, lips parted. Maybe, Korra thought, if she wanted to regain the Avatar State, she had to regain other things first.

But Tenzin, Raiko…

But Asami…

Her head hurt.

"Why don't we finish breakfast?" she said at last. "And spend some time together. No saving the world or running off scavengers. Just, us, together again." And maybe she could find her courage, one way or the other.

* * *

><p>Korra brought the rented satomobile to a reasonably graceful stop. "Well, here we are."<p>

Asami got out. Her expression was slightly dazed, as if she couldn't believe that Korra had been behind the wheel for more than thirty seconds without crashing or giving her a heart attack. Or maybe she was just taking in the view. Before them was an exact replica of Won Shi Tong's library as it had looked in the material world. Moonlight glinted off the golden spire. She'd seen flashes of the real thing in Aang's memory before their connection had been severed. The replica had been a public works project Earth King Kuei had ordered when the kingdom's economy had been especially bad. A total tourist trap. And still so much more impressive than memory.

"Wow," Asami said. "I've heard the stories of the old library, but…wow. Is there anything inside?"

Korra furrowed her brow, trying to remember what the guidebook had said. "A tea shop. A gift shop. No books, ironically enough."

"Oh." Asami's face fell, and Korra wished that she had more than flashes to share. "All that knowledge locked away in the spirit world. I wish...it's a shame non-benders can't go into the spirit world."

Korra almost reminded her that she was a bender and couldn't go into the spirit world either, but that didn't seem like the thing to say. "South Pole," she said. "Portal. Right there."

Even Asami's snorts were delicate. "How could I forget? Now I just need to mount an expedition. Brave the Everstorm—"

"—Find the thing—"

"—Hope the owl spirit that hates humans doesn't kill me."

Korra swallowed again, this time to tamp down the hysterical laughter that threatened to overtake her. "You look like you could do it." She cleared her throat and launched into a not-very-good impression of Shiro Shinobi. "Asami Sato, tycoon, inventor, now daring explorer of the Spirit World. Watch as she braves crumbling ruins to study ancient knowledge."

They did laugh at that, and Korra felt another bit of the weight she'd been carrying for the last three years dissolve. Asami did look like she could pull it off. She looked like she should be in one of those adventure movers that had become all the rage after _Nuktuk._ The moonlight had silvered her skin and hair, made her practically black and white already. Even the scar gave her a thrilling, dangerous air. Korra licked her lips and was grateful Asami was concentrating on the library.

The feel of a rock whizzing by made Korra blink. She felt faintly fuzzy-headed as she turned, her brain only reluctantly transitioning from ogling to the here and now. She saw the culprits at once: two Earth Kingdom boys who were even younger than Kai had been when they met. They froze and dropped their remaining rocks.

"We're sorry, miss," blubbered one. "We were just trying to get that fox over there." He pointed at an outcropping of rocks a few meters away. Sure enough, a fox scurried along the edge.

Korra's skin tingled. Not a fox. A fox spirit. She couldn't see the eyes, but she knew they would be solid blue without pupils. "You're trying to attack a Knowledge Seeker? Are you crazy?"

"K-knowledge Seeker?" The boy gulped. "I thought all those ran off into the spirit world with Won Shi Tong."

Korra folded her arms and gave the boys her best Avatar glare. "Obviously not. Now why don't you run along back to your parents before Won Shi Tong decides to leave the spirit world to come get you?"

"He wouldn't really do that, would he? I mean it's not our fault that fox was—"

"You really want to take that chance?"

The boys, quite sensibly, ran back in the direction of the library. Korra watched them, feeling stupidly pleased with herself. Asami raised an eyebrow, and Korra shrugged. "You pick up a few things babysitting. And I'm supposed to protect the physical and spirit worlds from each other. This counts." Maybe it really did, the first tiny step toward actually doing her job.

The Knowledge Seeker scurried toward them. Korra could make out a scroll tied to its neck. Tendrils of thought eddy into Korra's mind. _Thank you…Avatar. The other humans were becoming quite annoying._

"You know who I am?"

_I would be a very poor Knowledge Seeker if I didn't. Not all of us make up nonsense about radios. Before the first library was buried under the sand, it was customary to repay those who assisted us. My master cannot keep us hidden forever. Perhaps it's time to bring back the old courtesies._ He lowered his head._ Take the scroll._

"Um, okay." Korra unhooked the scroll, and the Knowledge Seeker vanished into the night.

"What is it?" Asami's breath was warm on her neck as she peered at the scroll.

Korra shivered. "It's—" She shifted so she could hold the scroll in one hand and summon a makeshift torch with the other. "—a bunch of sketches of hummingbird dragonflies. Wow. I guess Won Shi Tong really would take anything in the old days."

But Asami was making a humming noise. The sketches had given her some kind of idea. By this time tomorrow she'd have sketches of a new model of biplane or something. "What are you thinking about?"

Asami blinked. "Nothing. It probably wouldn't work anyway." She cocked her head to one side. "Although…"

Korra smiled and bowed. "I believe you wanted some ancient knowledge Miss Sato. Take it."

They switched positions so Korra could provide light for Asami. And as Asami pulled a bit of scrap paper from her jacket to scribble a mathematical formula, Korra understood. She was doing her job. Bridging two worlds. The non-bender using the spirit's knowledge. Wan would be proud wherever he was now.

_I am the Avatar._

_I am the Avatar, and I am not broken. I can do this. Zaheer didn't take everything from me. And I can do what I should've done two-and-a-half years ago._

"Asami," she whispered as she extinguished the fire.

Asami looked up. Korra looked at her. _Please let me be right._ But Asami looked almost knowing in the moonlight. "Korra." And then they were kissing. Any thoughts or fantasies of how the she go vanished at the reality of Asami's mouth on hers. Her lips tasted like figs. Those strong, soft, rough, paradoxical fingers traced the curve of Korra's spine. Korra heard herself whimper. She was all heat and lightning and—how had she managed to go this long without kissing Asami? She didn't want to figure out how she was going to stop.

Asami pulled away. They were both breathing hard. Korra ran a hand over Asami's hair. Soft and silky, just like it should be. They had kissed and the world hadn't ended. Zaheer hadn't swallowed Korra whole. In fact, she felt…great. Human.

Asami stroked her face, leaving a trail of electricity under her fingers. "Korra? Please, say something."

Korra laughed and dared the kiss to Asami's nose. Say something? There was only one thing to say. "I think maybe I can try Republic City."


End file.
